I picked up an ASUS A53Z from Newegg while they were on sale for a measly $360. I'm amazed. Truly an incredible laptop, especially for the price.
Anyway, I've been working on overclocking it -- no problem really since the cooling system is GREAT -- and I've noticed some... irregularities.
Using K10STAT to adjust the multiplier at various P states, I originally set my max non-turbo clock speed at 1700MHz, up from the stock 1500MHz. As I typically do, I ran Cinebench to confirm it was at least fairly stable instead of wasting hours on Prime95 just to go up another 100MHz increment and try again. However, I noticed that CPU-Z said that the clock speed was frequently jumping between 1100 and 1750MHz. I was thinking, "what the hell?" I also had P states of 1250, 1400, and 1550MHz between those two. Whatever, I thought, I still got a sizable increase in my Cinebench score over the stock 1500MHz (with which I did NOT observe this rapid fluctuation). Set the max non-turbo clock to 1.8GHz. Observed the same thing -- jumps between 1200 and 1850MHz. Whatever. I still got another increase in the score, everything seemed stable, and I was still running at stock voltage! I decided to forget 1.9GHz and skip to 2GHz, and also add a minimal voltage bump. So far, perfectly stable. However, at these settings I can NEVER seem to replicate that type of rapid, drastic fluctuation.
Is that... normal?
Anyway, I've been working on overclocking it -- no problem really since the cooling system is GREAT -- and I've noticed some... irregularities.
Using K10STAT to adjust the multiplier at various P states, I originally set my max non-turbo clock speed at 1700MHz, up from the stock 1500MHz. As I typically do, I ran Cinebench to confirm it was at least fairly stable instead of wasting hours on Prime95 just to go up another 100MHz increment and try again. However, I noticed that CPU-Z said that the clock speed was frequently jumping between 1100 and 1750MHz. I was thinking, "what the hell?" I also had P states of 1250, 1400, and 1550MHz between those two. Whatever, I thought, I still got a sizable increase in my Cinebench score over the stock 1500MHz (with which I did NOT observe this rapid fluctuation). Set the max non-turbo clock to 1.8GHz. Observed the same thing -- jumps between 1200 and 1850MHz. Whatever. I still got another increase in the score, everything seemed stable, and I was still running at stock voltage! I decided to forget 1.9GHz and skip to 2GHz, and also add a minimal voltage bump. So far, perfectly stable. However, at these settings I can NEVER seem to replicate that type of rapid, drastic fluctuation.
Is that... normal?
Kalki
(19 items) |
Alienware
(16 items) |
ASUS A53Z
(13 items) |
| CPU | Motherboard | Graphics | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMD OPTERON BULLDOZER 16-CORE 2GHZ | ALIENWARE 3+1 PHASE ITX | 4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 430 | 32GB DDR3 800MHZ CL13 |
| Hard Drive | Optical Drive | Cooling | OS |
| 2TB 5400RPM | BLU RAY BURNER | ONE CASE FAN | UBUNTU W/ UNITY (I AM 1337 H4X0R) |
| Monitor | Keyboard | Power | Case |
| HD-READY 24" 1366X768 PENTILE TN PANEL; 256K CO... | ALIENWARE TACTX UBER 1337 BACKLIT RUBBER MEMBRA... | OFF-BRAND 200W; 65% EFFICIENCY | ALIENWARE WITH THE COOL GLOWING ALIEN |
| Mouse | Mouse Pad | Audio | Other |
| ALIENWARE TACTX | ALIENWARE MOUSEPAD IT'S DESIGNED FOR GAMING AND... | BEATS AUDIO | 8 CORES!!!! 4GB VRAM!!!! FASTER THAN 3960X + 79... |
| View all | |||
| CPU | Motherboard | Graphics | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMD A6-3420M OC 2.2GHz / 3GHz Turbo 1.10625v | ASUS A53Z | AMD Radeon HD 6520G | 6GB DDR3 1333MHz |
| Hard Drive | Optical Drive | Cooling | OS |
| 320GB WD Scorpio Black | yes. | really good | Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit |
| OS | Monitor | Keyboard | Power |
| Fedora GNU/Linux | 1366x768 LED-backlit TN panel | Decent + numpad | ~5hr 6-cell li-ion |
| Audio | |||
| Altec Lansing | |||
| View all | |||
|
Kalki
(19 items) |
Alienware
(16 items) |
ASUS A53Z
(13 items) |
| CPU | Motherboard | Graphics | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMD OPTERON BULLDOZER 16-CORE 2GHZ | ALIENWARE 3+1 PHASE ITX | 4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 430 | 32GB DDR3 800MHZ CL13 |
| Hard Drive | Optical Drive | Cooling | OS |
| 2TB 5400RPM | BLU RAY BURNER | ONE CASE FAN | UBUNTU W/ UNITY (I AM 1337 H4X0R) |
| Monitor | Keyboard | Power | Case |
| HD-READY 24" 1366X768 PENTILE TN PANEL; 256K CO... | ALIENWARE TACTX UBER 1337 BACKLIT RUBBER MEMBRA... | OFF-BRAND 200W; 65% EFFICIENCY | ALIENWARE WITH THE COOL GLOWING ALIEN |
| Mouse | Mouse Pad | Audio | Other |
| ALIENWARE TACTX | ALIENWARE MOUSEPAD IT'S DESIGNED FOR GAMING AND... | BEATS AUDIO | 8 CORES!!!! 4GB VRAM!!!! FASTER THAN 3960X + 79... |
| View all | |||
| CPU | Motherboard | Graphics | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMD A6-3420M OC 2.2GHz / 3GHz Turbo 1.10625v | ASUS A53Z | AMD Radeon HD 6520G | 6GB DDR3 1333MHz |
| Hard Drive | Optical Drive | Cooling | OS |
| 320GB WD Scorpio Black | yes. | really good | Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit |
| OS | Monitor | Keyboard | Power |
| Fedora GNU/Linux | 1366x768 LED-backlit TN panel | Decent + numpad | ~5hr 6-cell li-ion |
| Audio | |||
| Altec Lansing | |||
| View all | |||
I'm surprised a laptop could also be overclocked. I didn't know, last time I had one in 2007 
Now I am feeling I should get one again.
